The _Hsiao Ching_, or Classic of Filial Piety, is assigned partly to Confucius and partly to TSÊNG TS’AN, though it more probably belongs to a very much later date. Considering that filial piety is admittedly the keystone of Chinese civilisation, it is disappointing to find nothing more on the subject than a poor pamphlet of commonplace and ill-strung sentences, which gives the impression of having been written to fill a void. One short extract will suffice:-- “The Master said, ‘There are three thousand offences against which the five punishments are directed, and there is not one of them greater than being unfilial. “‘When constraint is put upon a ruler, that is the disowning of his superiority; when the authority of the sages is disallowed, that is the disowning of all law; when filial piety is put aside, that is the disowning of the principle of affection. These three things pave the way to anarchy.’” * * * * * The _Chia Yü_, or Family Sayings of Confucius, is a work with a fascinating title, which has been ascribed by some to the immediate disciples of Confucius, but which, as it now exists, is usually thought by native scholars to have been composed by Wang Su, a learned official who died A.D. 256. There appears to have been an older work under this same title, but how far the later work is indebted to it, or based upon it, seems likely to remain unknown. Another discredited work is the _Lü Shih Ch‘un Ch‘iu_, or Spring and Autumn of LÜ PU-WEI, who died B.C. 235 and was the putative sire of the First Emperor (see ch. vii.). It contains a great deal about the early history of China, some of which is no doubt based upon fact. [Sidenote: MU T‘IEN TZŬ CHUAN] Lastly, among spurious books may be mentioned the MU T‘IEN TZŬ CHUAN, an account of a mythical journey by a sovereign of the Chou dynasty, supposed to have been taken about 1000 B.C. The sovereign is unfortunately spoken of by his posthumous title, and the work was evidently written up in the 3rd century A.D. to suit a statement found in Lieh Tzŭ (see chapter vi.) to the effect that the ruler in question did make some such journey to the West. Chapter V POETRY--INSCRIPTIONS